On April 11, 1769, the Spaniards did not look like conquerors. Entering San Diego Bay aboard the San Carlos and its sister ship, the San Antonio, they were weary, hungry and sick. “When the ships pulled in, that’s what our ancestors saw -- just other humans, humans who were suffering from hunger and thirst,” said Erica Pinto, the Jamul Indian Village’s tribal chairwoman. “We welcomed them and we fed them. “After that, everything started to go downhill for us.” On Thursday, San Diego’s 250th anniversary commemorations began with ceremonies near the historic landing site, at the present-day Embarcadero Marina Park North. While many hail these long-ago soldiers, missionaries and settlers as the founders of California’s first permanent city, the region’s Indians have a different view.
On April 11, 1769, the Spaniards did not look like conquerors. Entering San Diego Bay aboard the San Carlos and its sister ship, the San Antonio, they were weary, hungry and sick.
“When the ships pulled in, that’s what our ancestors saw -- just other humans, humans who were suffering from hunger and thirst,” said Erica Pinto, the Jamul Indian Village’s tribal chairwoman. “We welcomed them and we fed them.
“After that, everything started to go downhill for us.”
On Thursday, San Diego’s 250th anniversary commemorations began with ceremonies near the historic landing site, at the present-day Embarcadero Marina Park North. While many hail these long-ago soldiers, missionaries and settlers as the founders of California’s first permanent city, the region’s Indians have a different view.